“They can be kind of quirky and independent and they’re trying to change from being dependent on their parents to being independent, and that’s kind of an awkward stage,” Colonis said. “But I absolutely love it.”

As she surveyed a new group of students during the first day of school last Monday, Colonis’s voice was pleasant and encouraging. After taking attendance, it was time for an ice breaker.

Students went one by one down the line, sharing a favorite math experience. It was easier for some students than others.

Colonis’s students are seventh-graders, meaning most of them spent the last two years entrenched at Sunnyside Middle School where each had two teachers. At Tecumseh, they have seven teachers and seven classrooms.

They’re not yet accustomed to the bustling Tecumseh hallways as more than 1,000 classmates jostle toward class. As a result, the students can be somewhat timid. It’s Colonis’ job to coax them out of their shells.

“You just kind of click with them and go with it, and it’s like trust,” Colonis said. “(Students come to understand,) ‘Mrs. Colonis has these rules and these guidelines but she really cares about me. I can tell that but she’s still going to push me to do my best.’ ”

Flash back to her days as a Purdue University undergraduate and Colonis was on track to be an engineer. Growing up, she’d been told that her aptitude for math and science would serve her well in the engineering field.

As an undergrad, Colonis began teaching gymnastics to middle school students at a local gym. Seeing her flare for teaching, the gym’s owner pulled Colonis aside one day. “Have you thought about teaching middle school?” she asked.

She received her doctorate last year, the culmination of a grueling, seven-year process. During part of that time she worked as an LSC literacy coach but wasn’t happy remaining on the sidelines in the classroom.

“When I was in the classrooms working with teachers, I’d just want to get up and start teaching the class, because I love to teach,” Colonis said. “It’s in my blood.”

She started teaching in California before moving around to several districts in Indiana. She’s never taught long enough in one place to get tenure so she’s spent all 21 of her years as a teacher under the virtual microscope of yearly classroom observations from her various principals.

Last year at Tecumseh, she even had several school officials at once in her classroom observing her.

“They were trying to make sure they were seeing the same things so all three of the administrators were in here at the same time,” Colonis recalled. “That was a little bit odd I have to say.”

Still, this year will bring a different kind of scrutiny. Aspects of this year’s evaluation system remind her of the yearly goals she had to set and meet while working in California, but there are plenty of aspects of the process she’s still working to understand.

In the end, though, what matters most to Colonis is getting her students excited about math.

“Sometimes people think it’s kind of like a badge of honor that they were terrible at math ... so I really push hard to say, ‘Hey, math opens doors.’ ”